Is anyone an electrician or related to one?

[Frequency]

If so, can you ask them if I can still use my tumble dryer? It went poof a couple of days ago. There was no bang, the trip switch did not turn off, and there was no smoke that I could see or smell of burning; it simply lost all power. It is plugged in behind a cabinet. When I moved the cabinet, the plug was partially melted, as was the socket, and there were scorch marks up the wall.

Google is unanimous in its opinion that I need to change the wall socket. I assume the wiring itself is fine, as the freezer is plugged into the same socket, and that is working fine. Having consulted YouTube, I am confident I can change this myself. It doesn't seem any different from changing a plug or light fitting, which I have done several times. However, Google is less certain as to whether the dryer is still safe to use. Some sources believe all I need to do is purchase and fit a new plug. Other sources say that the plug exploded due to an issue with the dryer and think it needs to be scrapped. I'd rather pay a few quid for a new plug and fuse than hundreds for a tumble dryer if I can get away with it.

Don't risk it. It may be just the socket but the end of the wires in the wall may also be damaged by the heat.

If the end of the plug is damaged the flex itself may similarly be damaged and will damage any other socket you plug it into.

Any decent professional wouldn’t possibly advise you without actually seeing the item in question

I can’t fathom that you’re even considering using it tbh

If you turn off the ring you could take the socket off the wall and have a look at how damaged it is.

But you have to wonder why the socket melted so it may be the wiring in it was loose or more likely your dryer was/is faulty....

A 13 amp plug costs around £1. A new tumble dryer costs hundreds, and I've been out of work for the last 6 weeks, so I've burned through a huge chunk of my meagre savings.

Is it worth getting the local white goods repair place to take a look at it, or does it just need scrapping, do we think?

If you’re not careful, you’ll “burn through” more than your savings

Is it a premoulded plug on the dryer or one that’s been fitted manually?

if it’s premoulded I’d think there’s a fault in the dryer.
if it was fitted manually it could have been poor connections in the plug.

how old is it?
when did you last clean the fluff filter?

Pre-moulded. The dryer is around 4 years old. The lint tray is cleaned before each use, and the filter thingy is washed every couple of weeks. It's a condenser dryer.

It was working fine until it just turned off. It made its usual beep that says it has finished its cycle. I went to turn it back on because it had only been running 10 minutes, so the load could not possibly be dry, and it had no power.

My guess is the melting plug likely melted the socket face.
but that’s a lot of heat.

if the socket went faulty it should trip the circuit breaker in the consumer unit ( fuse box ).

but your current situation ( pun unintended ) is the dryer is at best faulty but repairable, at worst a risk to life. And you need a new socket.

Thank you. I will call the white goods repair people and ask if they can look at it. The melting is all around where the fuse is, and the scorching on the socket is around the earth pin. I've plugged the freezer in elsewhere for now, but it was plugged into the same (double) socket and wasn't affected, so the socket itself seems to be working. It is just the socket face that's burned. None of the trip switches went off, not the main one or the one that controls the sockets in the kitchen.

I was using a different setting on the dryer than what I normally use, if that is relevant? I was using a higher temperature than usual.

So the melting is caused by a bad contact either in the fuse carrier or one of the pins.
So you need to replace the socket and plug, cutting back any damaged wiring to suit.
You don't need to replace the dryer or any substantial amount of wiring, unless there are other faults that are unreported.

It sounds like the tumble dryer caused the plug to melt, which caused the socket problem, rather than the socket damaging the dryer. The dryer is the problem, not the plug or socket (although they need replacing due to damage). Considering dryers are a main factor in house fires I would throw it out rather than try for a repair. Your life is worth more than £300.

As stupid as it sounds, the tumble dryer is also worth more than £300, so I'd rather not replace it, if all that is wrong with it is an issue with the plug that could be resolved for less than a tenner. I've called the repair shop. They are delivering in my area later this week and remember me as a frequent customer, so have said if I change the plug, they will call in with their PAT tester for half of their usual callout fee to test it for me before I use it, or they can change the plug for me and test it for £60. They also think it is an issue with the plug itself, from what I have described. They were confident enough that it could be repaired to offer me £80 part exchange for it for one of the (older and smaller) condenser dryers that they have in stock.